Category Archives: Central Ohio

In all my years I’ve been very fortunate in that I’ve had to be hospitalized only four times and two of those times were to give birth to my daughters. But at the end of February I had to be admitted for emergency surgery in the middle of the night. I had diverticulitis with a substantial amount of infection (sepsis). The surgeon removed my lower colon and established an ileostomy which will be “undone” with more surgery later in April. Thank goodness! I’m very lucky in that regard!

While I was at one of the top hospitals in the Columbus area, I noticed some changes versus the past times I was hospitalized. I’m not sure all the differences are positive. Naturally everything is computerized. Nurses ask questions then spend time on the room’s computer entering all my answers. Every time they gave me medication or a piece of equipment they scanned my ID bracelet. I assumed that was a ca-ching to charge my bill.

The main difference I noticed was with the nursing staff. They seemed to be understaffed. Too many patients – too few nurses. But the main concern was that about 1/3 were wearing hijabs and had a language/communication issue. A couple times they tried to give me medication that I knew was inappropriate per the surgeon’s orders. I wonder what happens to patients that aren’t fully aware! The housekeeping staff and meal delivery staff were mostly non-American given their lack of language skills. It’s sad that these jobs are no longer going to Americans, but rather foreigners working for lower wages.

After two weeks in the hospital, I transferred to a rehab facility for 1-1/2 weeks. The nurse to patient ratio was even worse than at the hospital! I had substantial problems with the ileostomy and finding a satisfactory pouch to adhere to it. The nurses weren’t adequately trained to care for, properly prepare the area and apply the pouch. Basically it was a mess and my skin paid the price. One morning I was left sitting in a “mess” naked for two hours as nurses changed shift and aides had to deliver breakfast trays to the dining room patients. Again I feel sorry for patients who either can’t speak up or don’t have family to check on them. Those are the horrors of elderly care. I just did everything I could to convince the Surgeon that I would be better off at home.

I’ve heard many people – especially politicians – complain about the medical industry. I suspect political involvement in the medical industry is the cause of many of the negatives I experienced. The need to cut costs and time spent filling out the computer work required by the government. That takes time away that nurses and aides can spend giving care to patients. Not good!

Last year a neighbor told me about an app used by other neighbors. Her two dogs had escaped their fenced yard. They made their way to the deck of another neighbor several streets away. Eventually my neighbor retrieved the “escapees” thanks to the NEXT DOOR app. So I loaded the app on my phone.

It’s a very helpful app for subdivisions to stay in touch with neighbors to alert of happenings, HOA issues, lost cats & dogs, or in some cases crime or “suspicious” characters. During the Hurricane that hit Texas last year, I heard reporters mention that people used the NEXT DOOR app to alert others to those needing rescued.

So far in my neighborhood, it’s been a lot of roaming cats in other people’s yards. City rules say cats have the same rules as dogs – not out of the yard unless on lease – but cat owners often think it’s OK to let their cat roam, kill birds, and poop in our landscape beds. A couple weeks ago a neighbor alerted us that a young golden retriever had escaped and they couldn’t catch him. It was an extremely bitter cold night with substantial snow cover. Everyone knew there was a chance the dog couldn’t survive overnight so various people got in their cars and slowly drove the streets hoping to find the pup. Half the homes are on wooded, ravine lots making many places for the dog to escape notice. It was amazing the outpouring of support as people stayed in touch with the app. The dog finally returned home the next morning but offered no explanation of what he’d been up to. BTW, the dog’s name is appropriately CHASE!

Our small city posts informative items and the police post important notices. People can also post items for sale or FREE when they want to get rid of something. It’s a great place for “handymen” or “who knows a good plumber/electrician”. My subdivision has 366 homes so we have a decent sized group, however, we can expand our posts to other surrounding areas if we choose.

It’s a great little app and so handy. Best part is it’s a FREE app! Here’s the link toNextDoor website, but to put it on your phone, go to the app store.

I dislike winter. I dislike being cold. Sure the snow is pretty – it’s just too bad it has to be cold to produce snow. Since I’ve retired I tend to hibernate during January. I only go out if I have to. I don’t mind driving in snow since I have a Jeep, but I don’t like being cold until the heater starts blowing warm air.

This year I need to apologize to my neighbors. My Christmas lights are still up. I put them up in early December when we had some warmer days. I kind of overdid it since I had a new 8-ft stepladder. Except for a few days, we’ve had snow on the ground since Christmas. I’m not eager to put that ladder in 4-6″ of snow to undo the lights.

This Hawthorn tree is around 20ft tall – with THORNS! I got creative in putting the lights on it with my “new ladder”. I’m not looking forward to removing the lights when the temp is 15°. I did the same thing with a slightly smaller crab apple tree in the front. In the next week the weather is to be in the 30s so maybe some of the snow will melt so I can remove the lights.

On the plus side, I checked a few indoor projects off my to-do list. I cleaned out a bunch of files and took the sensitive papers to the UPS Store for shredding. I took some old non-working appliances to Sims Recycling where they paid me $2.38 for them. I did more planning for a major project that I’ve been working on. I’ll start it “soon” and that’ll keep me busy through February. Then there’s a couple storage closets that need to be sorted with outdated STUFF thrown out.

I use minimal insecticides mainly because I’ve always had dogs and Murph is like a 4-legged mop because his legs are so short. I also don’t want to harm the good insects like bees, nor do I want to harm the birds. I prefer to let Nature take its course. Like the Assassin bug I found a couple years ago, I learned it killed the bad bugs, even though it was really ugly.

GOOD BUG!

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Over the weekend I spotted another highly desirable bug, a Praying Mantis. They’re fun to watch as they do their jerky movement and turn their strange head. Eventually it “walked” down to the green plant below where it became nearly invisible with its color match. If you check articles on Google, you’ll find that these insects are killing machines, attacking much larger critters like frogs! Amazing!

BAD BUGS!

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Also this past weekend I began cleaning up the brown spots I had in the yard. I thought they were due to the extreme dry weather we had. But as I began to use my thatching rake, I pulled up the sod … a sure sign of grubs. I was finding a grub for every 2 square inches. THAT’S A LOT!

I found this invasion over large parts of my back lawn. Given the time of year, I checked online for a specific insecticide that would kill them NOW. Many grub controls are preventative and must be put on in late spring. I found an article from Michigan State University that there are only 2 active ingredients that kill now. One of those took 3-4 weeks to work. The other kills in 24-hours. So I made a trip to Home Depot to buy the Bayer granules.

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I tested the insecticide on one of the large damaged areas, soaked it with plenty of water, then watched the grubs squirm and try to bury themselves further down into the dirt. If it didn’t work, I wasn’t going to put it over other areas because of Murph. I checked the next day and the grubs were dead. I’ve since covered the area with topsoil to keep Murph from coming in contact with the granules. (The hose was circled around the spot to keep Murph off – he hates the hose!)

I’ll be repeating this process over all the other large areas where I spotted the nasty grubs. If there were just a few grubs, I wouldn’t bother with this, but if I don’t control them to some degree I’ll just have a bunch of June bugs next year with a repeat of the damaged lawn.

Normally these little critters scamper as soon as I walk out the door. This time the little guy was defiant! I got within 2-feet to take the picture. There was a “stare down” as I snapped 3 pics with my phone before it scampered away. Guess the special Fruit & Nut seed was just too enticing that it was worth defying the “dangerous human”! 🙂

Their fat little cheeks are cute but they sure do empty the feeders in a hurry!

In May 2015 I wrote about a new landscape bed which I put in that contained 2 Coppertina Ninebark plants. The first year I really liked them. The changing copper colors were quite attractive. But as the year went on I began to notice a problem with powdery mildew. I cut out the affected leaves then sprayed with a fungicide. As time went on the fungicide seemed to have no effect, so I sprayed again when we would have several rain-free days. Still no control of the mildew.

This spring the powdery mildew came back with a vengeance. I checked Google to see if there was a known problem for this type of plant and found several articles on the subject. It seems powdery mildew and Witch’s Brooms are a genetic problem with Ninebarks although some varieties are less damaged by the disease. None of the suggestions for control were very effective. The stems where the Witch’s Broom occur soon turn black as do the leaves.

One of the two plants was smaller and less attractive since it has had more powdery mildew problems than the other one. I don’t want to have to mess with pruning off the affected leaves and black stems every couple weeks OR have to weekly spray a fungicide that really doesn’t work, so I removed the smaller plant. I’m really disappointed since the plant is or could be very attractive but this genetic issue makes them a questionable purchase. Be advised!